Hong Kong Hotel - Harbin

The pricing reflects the quality. For around 100RMB per night (cheapest room type), you can't really expect too much. The sound insulation is almost nonexistent. I could hear the door opposite to my room squeak open (the door leads to the restaurant), and I was able to hear people in the room next to mine talking. The bathroom is a bit cramped, with barely any space to hang clothes. Perhaps the more expensive rooms are better? They only offer one key card per room, but for 100RMB deposit you can request an additional card. However, they do have western style toilets and hot water. Basic toiletries and slippers are provided, though I would recommend using your own. Breakfast is Chinese style, with fried rice, vegetables, bread, potatoes etc. Decent quality. On the bright side, there is an abundance of staff. I saw staff members almost all the time, and they are pretty helpful. Transport is also convenient, with the hotel located across the street to a bus stop, and 3 minutes walk from the metro station. There are a few restaurants and convenience stores nearby.

The Hong Kong Hotel is a passable budget choice. I booked it through one of the leading travel websites, and on arrival they wanted to charge me double the agreed rate. But we compromised at an acceptable figure with a promise that the balance would be refunded at the end of my stay. Rather to my surprise, it was; perhaps this is simply their way of taking a security deposit as, despite what they say on their in-room literature, they would not take a Western credit card and insisted on cash. The room itself was mediocre and smelled strongly of tobacco, despite nominally being a non-smoking room. But the bed linen was clean and, by Chinese standards, the bed not too hard. Possibly because I was on the lowest rate, my room lacked a window, but didn’t feel too claustrophobic. There were no chairs or desk. Internet access in the room was patchy – it could always get a clear signal from the wireless router, but only rarely connected to the outside world. The bath was very tired and chipped, with a non-functioning shower – indeed the mechanism to control the shower had been removed. But the WC was western-style, clean and considerably newer than the rest of the bathroom. A full range of toiletries was provided including combs and toothbrushes. Rates generally include breakfast (again, I had to push the point on check-in). It’s a typical oriental buffet, with no tea or coffee but warm orange squash and soy milk is available from a machine. The selection was good, and if you’re happy with Chinese food for breakfast (as I am) it enables a good foundation for a cold day’s sightseeing. The Hong Kong is about 3km NE of the centre, just a short walk from Gongchengdaxue metro station (use exit 2). That’s not very helpful as the line doesn’t go anywhere useful at present. Buses are a better bet: route 53 goes to Central St and Zhaolin Park; route 14 to the railway station, airport bus stop and terminates at the end of the bridge across to Sun Island. Both stop within 100m of the hotel and only cost one Yuan for a trip. In contrast most taxi drivers have never heard of it – take a map printed in Chinese if you plan on using a taxi – which may be necessary as few buses run after 9pm. NOTE: The leading international website I used to book the hotel marked it in the wrong position on their map - about 500m from its true location (check the location with a Chinese travel specialist to see where they mark it, which is more likely to be correct). What's worse, this website had 39 reviews from TripAdvisor (all but one in Chinese) - but when you linked through to the TripAdvisor site, the reviews related to the Palace Century Hotel, which is in the centre of Harbin and not the Hong Kong Hotel.